When it comes to armor, is gold, or zinc better? They both probably suck, but which sucks less?
Also, if I stash all my stuff (Bars of metal, armor, leather, other potentially valuable crafting things) in a lair that I murdered an innocent monster that didn't do anything to anyone to obtain found lying around, will anyone wander by and find free metal?
In adittion to these questions, is a gold longsword better then a copper shortsword? I made one to practice my weaponsmithing skill, and I wanted to know if it's *Resists pun* worth anything more then trade stuff.
Armorwise I don't know, they would probably be roughly equivalent with no appreciable difference when it comes to fighting actual combat materiel. Zinc has a better tensile yield while being equivalent just about everyplace else so I would have to go with zinc.
As for a shortsword, copper is most likely best. But it depends on what you are fighting. A gold shortsword would probably make a bad actual cutting weapon, gold is a good heavy metal and could behave much like a good mace or hammer though.
i'm not sure if it plays into combat, but zinc also has a low melting temperature.... a zinc support is destroyed by magma faster than one made of wood. if it does matter at all, it'll be against fire-breathers.
Zinc, at least in 40d, actually BOILS in magma. I doubt that will actually come up in your average game, but if you do end up in magma your armor will dissolve and give you horrible burns. Which you are likely already suffering, due to, y'know, the magma. I don't know how hot fire is, dragon-related or otherwise, so I can't advise whether you can expect your armor to melt/boil in a more survivable situation.
Gold armor, on the other hand, is heavier (how much heavier you can check yourself,) and heavier armor means reduced speed, which makes it more difficult to flee/pursue/fight enemies. Plus, it is made of gold, and is therefore valuable- sell it for better armor.
Assuming we are discussing Adventure Mode, you can use creature Lairs as your personal stash and nobody will bother you. This may change in the "near" future, but it will almost certainly be preceded by actual housing/storage solutions in town.
Gold is a terrible cutting/piercing weapon, but you can slap opponent's with the flat of the blade or (better) strike with the pommel to deal a blunt attack instead, so its not completely useless. That said, it is gold, and probably worth a lot at a shop, perhaps enough to buy a nice bronze or iron sword instead, or perhaps some decent armor. Sell it.